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Help Japanese Race Classification Systems

Does somebody know how to relate the Japanese categories (JBCF & JCRC) to the European/German categories (Elite A, Elite B, Elite C) in regards to competitiveness and duration?

Also I am searching for an (easy to understand) online calendar of all road races with type (crit,...), available classes and distance.
What I found so far:
  1. http://www.jbcf.jp/calendar/
  2. http://www.jcrc-net.jp/ under: 大会カレンダー 2011年

But I wounder if these are really all races in 2011 (only 17 road-races in all Japan under JBCF).

What I also do not understand is the meaning of the AAA, AA, A, B,... and JPT, JET columns in the JBCF calendar. Does somebody know?

Thanks a lot,
Malte
 
JPT is Cat1 and Professional also with the JCF/JBCF you won't be able to just jump in to what ever cat you raced in in Europe unless you have a ELITE or Pro International License to prove it. Even then they will only allow you to race E1 in the JET Series.

E1, E2 and E3 are basically Cat1 Cat2 and Cat3 in Europe.

JBCF is explained early in the thread.

There are 25 races +3 in the JCF/JBCF JET calendar and only 17 JPT races although you need to include the UCI races held in Japan such as the Tour of Japan, Japan Cup ect which actually brings it up to 25 races on the Pro Tour.

The reason for this is becuase manyof the teams also race on the Asian UCI Tour of Asia Curcuit and the races are arranged not to clash with those.
 
Thanks for your answers.

JPT is Cat1 and Professional also with the JCF/JBCF you won't be able to just jump in to what ever cat you raced in in Europe unless you have a ELITE or Pro International License to prove it. Even then they will only allow you to race E1 in the JET Series.

I see, my last racing is 16 years ago so it doesn't apply for me, but in other cases they would accept the normal Germany(BDR/UCI) license/category.

E1, E2 and E3 are basically Cat1 Cat2 and Cat3 in Europe.

In the very first posting you mentioned ER, BR-1 and TR categories. Did the naming change since then? So when you start racing for the first time you will start with Elite-E3?

I also understand that the AAA,AA,A seems the point system that depend on the difficulty of the race, right? So to move up in JPT you need points or a certain result?

There are 25 races +3 in the JCF/JBCF JET calendar and only 17 JPT races although you need to include the UCI races held in Japan such as the Tour of Japan, Japan Cup ect which actually brings it up to 25 races on the Pro Tour.

The reason for this is becuase manyof the teams also race on the Asian UCI Tour of Asia Curcuit and the races are arranged not to clash with those.
So you will always see exactly the same guys at each race. I guess it must be very difficult to move up rank if all races are dominated by the seasons 5-6 strongest riders?
 
Yes they changed the names to match France and also make it sound cooler (It worked)

The difficulty rating doesn't really change things in regards to ability to race... if its a JET race then you can enter. However you need to be registered with a team and there are certain regulations in place that can prevent you from moving up.

for instant a team can only race E2 if they have 7 riders either already in that category or ready to be promoted from E3 to E2.

JPT is limited to 22 teams (20 in 2012) so to race JPT you must belong to a team with a JAPAN Pro Tour License.

In regards to movin up a 1-2-3-4-5-6 placing in E3 will move you up to E2 automatically, you do not have a choice in this.

1-2-3 will get you moved in to E1 and the same from E1 to JPT although you do have a choice.

Also at the end of the season if you have attained enough points you will be moved up as well.
 
Yes they changed the names to match France and also make it sound cooler (It worked)


I am still a bit confused :confused: Here is my understanding:

JBCF = Japan Bicyclist Club Federation
JCF = Japan Cycling Federation
and both provide UCI licenses

JET = Japan Elite Team - same as UCI continental team
JPT = Japan Pro Team - same as UCI continental pro team

JCRC = Japan Association of cycle Racing Clubs

The difficulty rating doesn't really change things in regards to ability to race... if its a JET race then you can enter. However you need to be registered with a team and there are certain regulations in place that can prevent you from moving up.

JET races are only E1 category races, so I wouldn't t need to think about a team in E3 or E2 class, would I?

Can you give a typical race length range of E3, E2 races, I couldn't get it from the JBCF homepage?
As JBCF races requires a license I would guess they are more save (=skilled riders) compared to JCRC (E,D class)?
 
Malte, unless you are an experienced and well trained road racer, I would start with JCRC and other non-series races and consider going for JBCF only later. It's not fun being dropped by the peleton early in the race and then being lapped and disqualified.

Also, lower classes are not always safer, because some of the stronger riders rising into the higher classes are kids who are not that experienced and don't mind taking lots of risks.

Generally hilly races are a lot safer than flat races, because the worst riders either don't turn up in the first place or they get dropped quickly.
 
No, I've only raced in Japan. Didn't even own a racing bike until three years ago...

The longer the race, the smaller the number of participants and also the more lose the peleton, but also the bigger the loss of concentration later in the race, with a higher potential to do stupid things.
 
I am still a bit confused :confused: Here is my understanding:

JBCF = Japan Bicyclist Club Federation
JCF = Japan Cycling Federation
and both provide UCI licenses

JET = Japan Elite Team - same as UCI continental team
JPT = Japan Pro Team - same as UCI continental pro team

JCRC = Japan Association of cycle Racing Clubs



JET races are only E1 category races, so I wouldn't t need to think about a team in E3 or E2 class, would I?

Can you give a typical race length range of E3, E2 races, I couldn't get it from the JBCF homepage?
As JBCF races requires a license I would guess they are more save (=skilled riders) compared to JCRC (E,D class)?

Ok the JBCF is part of the JCF which is the UCI in Japan.

JPT is Japan Pro Tour and seperate to the Japan Elite Tour.

Japan Elite Tour is split in to E1 - E2 - E3 and all races are held on the same day as each other. The Catergory listing is for points as some races award point for different events such as the Tokyo Championships or Kanagawa Championships and so on.

The issuing body for domestic licenses in Japan is the JBCF but if you intend to race overseas as well then you will need an international license again applied for through your prefectual JBCF office but this is issued by the JCF (UCI).

In regards to levels:

JPT is Professional Continental and Domestic level although there are several teams that are purely amatuer and race but remember you'll race against riders like Yukiya Arashiro and Beppu. In fact you actually DO race against them :D

JET is basically Domestic Club level and E1 is the same as Elite A in Europe. The racing is to a very very high standard. E2 and E3 are quick and have a blend of riders ability.

In regards to crashes.... this happens on every level of racing from the very bottom to the very top. This years TDF is a perfect example and the law of the peloton applies..... the closer you are to the front the less riders you need to worry about.

JCRC series is a very good series and many different levels. S class is the highest and you will be up against Pro's at this level. Last years August race at Shuzenji I was up against 3 riders from Continental European teams riding under Japanese club names as well as 3 more domestic pros so only because its considered club level don't be duped in to thinking the level is low as once you get past B class the racing gets very fast and very competitive and just sitting in the peloton won't work :D

Also the JCRC is a good litmus test to see if you like the level and style of racing here in Japan and if you progress to the higher ranks in the JCRC it will enable you to guage how well you will do in the JBCF races.

JCRC A and B class is similar to JBCF E2 in length and ability.
 
Hello Ludwig, very interesting read and my late congratulations :no1:

I wounder if the races would be more save if they increase the distance. How many riders did join these (in the result list it looks max 50 person, which looks manageable)? Did you ever do a BDR race and could compare Japan vs. German racers?

JCRC races range in numbers in regards to peloton.

The max limit is 60 riders but they will stretch this on courses like Gunma CSC and Shuzenji CCC as these raods are pretty wide. Popular races such as Saiko (Coming up soon) can have over 200 applicants especailly in the lower classes and so they split these in to E1, E2, E3 or D1 and D2 ect but they max out at about 60 riders per classificication.

The distances vary according to ability lower levels will do 2 laps of the lake while the top levels will do 6 the average speeds are drastically different too.

S class will race the 60km course at an average speed of 45km/h with bursts of up to 60km/h while D class race the 20km course at 41km/h with bursts up to 53km/h.
 
S class will race the 60km course at an average speed of 45km/h with bursts of up to 60km/h while D class race the 20km course at 41km/h with bursts up to 53km/h.

To answer Malte's question, looking at the figures alone S class sounds like an Elite B race in Germany, while D class would be a hobby race for riders without a license. So I would suspect S and A class riders would equal either Elite A or Elite B in Germany while B and C class riders would equal Elite B or Elite C riders, since the borderlines between the classes blur.

But that brings me to my questions, are the races always that short in Japan? Over here the magic number seems to be 60 km for criteriums , usually longer, and for road races 100 km. How long are the races for each class?
 
This is JCRC which is a "stand alone" organisation and these are thee length of the races that they organise.

For UCI/JCF/JBCF races you are looking at 100+ Km race or some serious climbing over 80km.
 
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